Pakistan Launches Fresh Air Strikes on Militant Hideouts in Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — WEB DESK: Pakistan carried out fresh air strikes against alleged militant hideouts in Afghanistan on Thursday, with the government saying the operation targeted two locations as part of its continuing counterterrorism campaign.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting described the strikes as “well-planned and calibrated” and said they were conducted under Operation Ghazab lil Haq.
According to the ministry, the operation targeted camps and safe havens linked to groups Pakistan officially describes as Fitna al-Khawarij and Fitna al-Hindustan, along with their affiliates.
Pakistani authorities use the term Fitna al-Khawarij for militants belonging to the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
The ministry said intelligence was used to identify and selectively target two locations inside Afghanistan.
Initial Pakistani assessments suggested that 22 militants were killed in the strikes. Authorities also claimed that large quantities of weapons and ammunition stored at the targeted sites were destroyed.
Pakistan said maximum precautions were taken to prevent collateral damage and maintained that no civilians were harmed.
Afghan authorities, however, presented a different account. Kabul said the strikes hit areas in Helmand and Kunar provinces and reported civilian casualties, including women and children.
The casualty figures and competing accounts from Pakistan and Afghanistan could not immediately be independently verified.
Islamabad maintains that militant groups operating from Afghan territory are responsible for attacks inside Pakistan and says cross-border militant sanctuaries pose a direct threat to its national security.
Afghanistan’s Taliban government has repeatedly rejected Pakistan’s allegations that it allows its territory to be used for attacks against neighbouring countries and has accused Islamabad of violating Afghan sovereignty through cross-border strikes.
Thursday’s operation comes amid a sharp deterioration in relations between the two neighbours following a series of militant attacks, drone incidents, border clashes and previous Pakistani strikes inside Afghanistan during September.
Pakistan says its counterterrorism campaign will continue against militant networks and their support infrastructure, while the latest cross-border action raises renewed concerns over further escalation between Islamabad and Kabul.
